


To the End of a Millennium

by constantconfusion14



Series: Toa Oneshots [2]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: 20th Century, Fluff, Gen, I’ll cheers to that, Mild Zouxie, New Years Eve, Y2K, it’s just them hanging out, mild mentions of alcohol, not beta read we die like heroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28456953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constantconfusion14/pseuds/constantconfusion14
Summary: To help Douxie get over his Y2K jitters on New Years Eve (1999), Zoe suggests they all recount their best and worst memories of the 20th century. After all, how often do you get to close out a millennium with your two best friends?
Relationships: Archie & Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Zoe, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Zoe
Series: Toa Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028712
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	To the End of a Millennium

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot

and ne’er brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

for auld lang syne?”

The door to the small apartment creaked open, allowing the soft glow of Christmas lights to illuminate the dark hallway. The smell of something quickly becoming overcooked in the oven flooded the open space. Douxie bumped the door closed with his hip as he rushed into the kitchen to try and save whatever New Year’s Eve treat Zoe might’ve been cooking for them. She was a few steps in front of him, though, already pulling mini sausages wrapped in croissants out of the broiling heat. The crusts were a little darker brown than what was probably considered optimal, but they’d certainly eaten worse. 

That didn’t mean Douxie wasn’t going to tease the girl about it, though. “You and I have two very different ideas of ‘the perfect golden brown’.” He chuckled as he watched her carelessly tip the baking sheet over a large plate. She shook it viciously, causing the poor little pigs in their blankets to fall all over the counter. Only a few actually made it to their intended location. 

Zoe waved him off with an oven-mitt covered hand. “Ah, shut it Casperan. I got distracted. They’re talking about the end of the world on the news and it’s just too entertaining to look away from.”

Douxie scoffed silently and smiled at her as she placed the baking sheet down and took off her mitts. She then began grabbing the fallen soldiers and throwing them back on to the plate, shaking her hands after every encounter due to the residual heat. “Oh, of course.” He replied. “How could anyone stay on task with the digital apocalypse just a few hours away?” Douxie walked over to the fridge and pinned the few paper receipts he’d been holding to the freezer door. 

Zoe watched him out of her peripherals as she continued throwing snacks on the plate. “Whatcha got there?”

“Nothing important. Just some ATM receipts.”

Silence. Zoe stopped what she was doing and moved her eyes up to meet his, a smirk already stretching across her face. “Oh my gods.” She huffed incredulously. 

Douxie avoided eye contact, reaching around her to pick up one of the treats off the plate she was holding. He blew on it for a brief moment before popping it in his mouth. Immediately, his tongue regretted the action as the steam assaulted his taste buds. “What?” He huffed loudly as he chewed, trying to suck in cold air to stop the burning of his mouth. 

Although that stunt had given her perfect ammo for ridicule, Zoe didn’t take the bait. She set the plate down and moved over to look at the receipts more closely. “A _withdrawal_?? You’re such a sucker, Douxie. I can’t believe you’re buying into this crap.”

With his mouth still mostly full, the wizard did his best to defend himself. “It no’ that I’m ‘uying in’o it-'' He took a second to swallow his food before continuing. “It’s just better to be safe than sorry, that’s all. Besides, with everyone panicking over this Y2K nonsense, I feel like there’s a good chance there might actually be a digital glitch. Except that _we’ll_ be the cause of it because no one can ever seem to keep a level head at the turn of the centuries, let alone _millennium_.”

“You can say that again.” A new voice joined the conversation. Both Zoe and Douxie snapped their heads down to see Archie stepping around the corner. “I’m just excited for people to stop talking about it. I mean, it’s been _months_ of this. Nonstop. You’d think people would get tired.”

“Tell me about it.” Zoe picked up the plate again and walked out to their small living room. She set the snacks down on the orangey, wooden coffee table that sat in the middle. She then assumed her position in the center of the couch. Douxie sat down next to her and Archie hopped up on the other side. “The water aisle of the store was all but barren this morning. Like, what do they think is going to happen? All the freshwater is suddenly going to vanish?” She laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Utter nonsense,” Archie agreed. 

“Well, it’s more of a concern about the water _systems_. Anything and everything that has to do with electricity is in danger. Or, at least, that’s what people are saying.” Douxie tried to laugh along with them, but even he noticed his tone sounded different than theirs. 

Zoe noticed immediately, addressing him with extreme incredulity. “Wait...is _that_ why you went on that candle binge a few weeks ago?”

Douxie smiled back sheepishly. “As a precaution. Just in case.

“Well that makes a bit more sense, at least. I just thought you’d snapped and were starting to hoard random items again.” Archie was kneading the couch cushions beside Zoe, the baby blue fabric getting caught in his claws. He shot his eyes up to Zoe as he added “Wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.”

Zoe chuckled as she turned from Archie to Douxie. “Unbelievable. You’ve lived through how many different centuries and you’re falling for this nonsense? Honestly, I’m a little disappointed, Douxie. You should know better.” She smiled as she shook her head, leaning forward for a pig-in-a-blanket. She blew on it before biting it in half.

“First off, there’s never been a century turn where technology like this was involved. Honestly, who knows what could happen. And I’m not one of those extremists who think the nukes are gonna launch. I’m more so concerned with the electrical grid. The candles are just in case we lose power for a few days and I’ve got some water hidden in the linen closet.” Both of them deadpanned at him and he gladly returned the look. “Oh come on! I thought you two would be proud of me for being prepared for once.” He leaned back into the couch and crossed his arms, making his pout obvious. 

“You always choose the least important events to be prepared for, Doux. For a clearly false apocalypse, you have all your affairs in order. But for the rise of that demon king in 1929? You decided to improvise on the spot. Makes perfect sense.” Archie had finally laid down, folding his front legs beneath him and making them disappear completely. His tail wrapped around his body perfectly. 

Douxie pushed himself forward so he could lean over and glare at his familiar. “That was an entirely different scenario, Arch. That demon arose from nowhere. We were absolutely caught off guard.”

Zoe, having finished her food, chimed in. “Yeah, that’s not totally fair, Archie. We all kind of bombed that one. I’d use the example of that Draugr army from the 60’s disguised as that group of socs. We saw their attack coming a mile away and Douxie still decided to wing it.”

“Well I’m not the only one here with the mental capacity to make battle plans. I don’t see why one of you couldn’t have handled that one.” Douxie scooted forward so he was sitting on the edge of the couch, facing his foes. 

“Because it was your turn.” Zoe and Archie answered in unison before matching shit-eating grins grew on their faces. 

Douxie sighed dramatically. “Well, we won in the end, didn’t we? Does it really matter what happened between point A and point B?”

Both of his companions scoffed loudly. Zoe took up the offensive position first. “Uh, my leg got fractured in a way only ancient magic can heal. So yeah. I’d say it matters. It still hurts when the temperature changes suddenly, did you know that? Mr. ‘Let Me Try This Incredibly Dangerous Spell I’ve Never Used And Hope For The Best’.”

Oh. Yeah, he’d kinda forgotten about that one. Whoops. 

“I’ll say. Your magic backfired severely and I was stuck as a dog for a month. I even warned you about that one ahead of time. But instead, you decided to disregard my harbinger and attempt the spell anyway.” Archie shuddered. “Literally clipped my wings.” 

Douxie rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine. I’ll admit it wasn’t one of my finest moments. But need I remind you two of some less-than-impressive plans you’ve come up with over the decades? Believe me, I’d be happy to have _that_ discussion.” His voice came out much snippier than he’d intended it to. 

“Woah, settle down there cowboy. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Zoe laughed lightheartedly and the sudden burst of anger within him died instantly. They were just messing with him, as they always did. (Though why Zoe and Archie seemed to constantly team up was beyond him). He was on edge, that was all. Deep down, he _knew_ nothing would happen when they welcomed in the new year. But the mass panic and hysteria had been starting to get to him. Even now, the news on the tv glared brightly at them, interviewing people about Y2K in New York’s Times Square as the East coast prepared to watch their ball drop. Douxie could feel people’s anxiety buzzing through the bulky tv screen as the clock dropped down to one minute. 

“I suppose the twentieth century was a bit rough for all of us. All the wars certainly weren't pretty.” Archie spoke up again, supporting his friend now as they all half-watched the glowing blue ball fall to the bottom of its post. The crowd cheered as the clock struck midnight in their time zone. At Archie’s words however, both Douxie and Zoe winced. The countless human wars over the past hundred years had spurred a lot of unnecessary fighting in the magical community. Not to mention thousands of magical creatures had been roped into fighting in the human battles, too. 

“Ok, sure. But there were also some pretty badass times, too.” Zoe tore her eyes from the tv screen as glitter and confetti rained down on the massive horde of people kissing. “Actually…” she looked back and forth between Douxie and Zoe. “We’ve got some time to kill until our countdown. Why don’t we reminisce on our best and worst moments through the century? I want to know your guys’ all-time favorite highlights and lowlights.”

Douxie sat back with a sigh, placing his hand on his forehead. “Ohhhh, that’s a tall order.” 100 years was a _long_ time and they’d done quite a bit. It was going to be nearly impossible to narrow it down to one instance. But...they did have about three hours to spare. And after living for so long, a century felt more like a decade. It was difficult to remember everything but the more he thought about it, the more he honed in on a few specific adventures of theirs. 

“Mmmm, sounds appropriate for the end of a millennium.” Without completely shifting from his comfortable position, Archie straightened his posture, clearly intrigued. Both he and Zoe looked over to Douxie for the final answer. Regardless of his response, he was outnumbered. They were going to do it anyway. 

“Ahh, why not?” Zoe’s instant grin was worth partaking in the shenanigans.

“Boo-yah!” She happily pumped her fist. “Let’s start with the lowlights and save the best stuff for last. Who wants to go first?” She pushed herself further back into the couch as Douxie moved forward to the floor and leaned against the table. Archie scooted forward a little so they could all see each other better. 

“What are we doing, like top ten or top five?” Douxie looked to Zoe for the official rules. 

“Let’s just do the top one for now. Sound good?” Her shoulder-length pink hair ruffled as she looked back and forth between Douxie and Archie. 

“Works for me,” they replied simultaneously. Then Douxie spoke alone. “I can go first.” Zoe’s grin and Archie’s silent nod encouraged him to continue. 

“Worst moment...let’s see…” He bit his lip while squinting his eyes for a moment, trying to remember his least favorite memories of the century. “I hated the 1920’s, _and_ the 1930’s for that matter-”

“Douxie, you can’t just claim an entire decade. We’re looking for specifics, here.” Zoe leaned forward a bit to grab another pig-in-a-blanket. Her small hand scooped up two, one of which she held out for Archie who gladly accepted the treat. 

Douxie rolled his eyes. “Well, okay. I’ve got two-ish, then. Firstly, I was _not_ a fan of all the factory work during the first part of the century in general. Especially when John lost his arm. It might not have been magic-related, but it was still pretty brutal.” The others nodded along.

“Ah yes, poor John. That man deserved better.” Archie’s voice was slightly muffled through the sound of him still chewing, but the sentiment was there.

“Agreed.” Zoe reached up her sleeve and produced her wand suddenly, catching both Douxie and Archie slightly off guard. She spun it in the air a few times while murmuring something under her breath and the wand turned itself into a glass of what appeared to be champagne. Zoe raised it in the air. “To John,” She brought the flute to her lips and sipped gingerly, making a face once the beverage passed her lips. 

“I’m sure John- a man who never once drank alcohol- would greatly appreciate a toast.” Archie’s voice was heavy with judgement as he watched the girl drink. 

“It’s New Years Eve, Archie, this is obligatory.” Zoe quickly countered. 

“She’s right,” Douxie smirked and used his magic to make another flute of the celebratory drink appear on the table next to him. He picked it up and raised it to Zoe who clinked hers against his. “To John! One hell of a closeted cartographer.” Zoe laughed loudly as they both lifted their glasses to drink again. 

The taste was bitter and unsatisfactory, but then again, alcohol always was. Douxie briefly relished in the artificial warmth spreading through him before continuing his list. “And then I’ve got to say the other worst moment of the century was definitely that time that time I got jinxed with that anti-sleeping curse in the 40’s. _That_ was rough.”

Archie and Zoe instantly began laughing.

“You were totally buggin’ out, Doux.” Zoe wheezed out as she covered her mouth to laugh harder. 

Douxie chuckled along with them, but it was clearly more entertaining for the people who _didn’t_ have to suffer through such a thing. “Definitely felt like I was going to die after a week without sleep, but I’m glad you guys pulled through on that one.” 

“Don’t forget, you still owe us,” Archie cut in quickly. His laughter had shaken him from a loaf-like position into a more eased, sitting one. He leaned forward as his interest in their conversation grew. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Douxie brushed off his familiar. At this point in his life, they all owed each other countless favors. It was impossible to keep track of who saved who’s life when they found themselves in mortal danger on a weekly basis. (Money lending, however, was something they kept strict records of). 

“I hate to one-up you, Doux, but I think getting the Spanish Flu beats out some lame sleeping curse.” Zoe chimed in, shuddering slightly for dramatic effect. “That’s _my_ least favorite moment from the past century. I don’t think I’ve ever been as sick as I was with that.”

Douxie and Archie made identical groaning sounds as they recounted that particular memory before the former spoke up in his defense. “First of all, it was an _anti_ -sleeping curse. I’d love to get cursed with an actual sleeping spell, that would be like, the best vacation ever. Secondly, I do think you win. I wouldn’t wish the Spanish Flu on my worst enemy.” Douxie hardly noticed his hand twitching and working its way towards Zoe’s legs. He gently brushed her knee as a small reminder that she was alive and perfectly healthy and not dying of some awful flu in the 1900’s. She gave him a small smile and surprisingly stayed silent about their contact. 

“Luckily for us, Zoe can beat off illnesses with nothing more than her obstinateness.” Archie chuckled as he shifted again and sat up. 

“Damn straight. I’ll cheers to that,” Zoe lifted her flute again and Douxie copied her actions. “Well, that and Douxie’s healing magic. I suppose it played a _small_ part in the recuperation process.” They clinked and brought their respective glasses to their lips again. 

“Damn straight,” Douxie chuckled out before he poured more champagne into his mouth. The taste was still incredibly bitter, but he already found himself caring less about the taste and more about the warm, fuzzy feeling enveloping his senses. He set the glass gently down on the coffee table and looked up to his familiar. “Alright, Archie. You’re up.” 

The cat squared his shoulders as he thought deeply about the question. “Technology,” was the only answer he provided. 

“Like, technology in general?” Zoe squinted one eye at the shape shifter as she leaned forward to place her glass back on the table. “Does that count?” She turned towards Douxie as she asked the room the second question. In lieu of a response, Douxie shrugged. Unhappy with the reply (or lack thereof), Zoe turned back to Archie. “What _about_ technology, specifically?”

Exactly like his wizard, Archie shrugged. “I find it hard to trust. Not to mention when that heard of rogue gremlins that got a hold of that government tech in ‘91 and nearly initiated a nuclear apocalypse. With how quickly it’s being developed, I fear for what’s to come. I mean, can you imagine what’ll happen if someone with strong magic mixes their power with advanced technology?”

Douxie raised his eyebrows and shrugged again. “I mean, that’s a fair point. But we’ll take it in strides, just like every other mind boggling invention. Electricity was a hard one to trust, too, but we learned how to adapt eventually.”

Archie shook his head. “I don’t know, Doux. Something about this technology stuff feels more dangerous. I just hope we don’t have some magical tech corporation in the future. That simply spells disaster.”

Zoe laughed and lightly scuffed Archie’s tiny shoulder with her hand. “Aww, come on, Arch. You sound like all the lame nay-sayers of the Silent Generation. We’re on the verge of prosperity, here! I think I speak for all of us when I say the 20th century sucked overall. With or without technology, this next millennium is gonna be much better, I can feel it.”

“Let’s just hope we don’t actually have to be around for the entire millennium.” Instinctually, Douxie picked up his flute again. He finished what was in the glass in one large gulp before using his magic to refill it again. He placed it back down on the table and noticed Zoe and Archie staring at him. He held his hands up in surrender. “I’m just saying, living nearly 900 years has certainly taken its toll on my poor, old soul. It would be nice to not have to wait around for another thousand years before Master Merlin decides to show his face, again.”

“Sure, I’ll cheers to that, too.” Zoe reached for her glass again and held it in the air. 

“Wait, wait, let me join this time. Goodness knows I’m just as sick of waiting as you two.” Archie looked over to Douxie who used a similar spell to create a small glass of milk for his familiar. He handed it to Archie who clinked the glass against Zoe’s before they both drank. 

Zoe followed Douxie’s lead and finished her drink. With one pleading look, Douxie complied with her request and refilled her flute as well. She smiled deviously at him as she placed it back on the table in front of her. “Okay, now that we’ve got the lowlights out of the way, let’s move to the best moments. I want to go first for this one.” She was nearly bouncing in place, causing Archie to nearly spill his drink as the entire couch moved with her excitement. “Douxie, can you do the memory movie thing?”

He should’ve expected her to ask that. “Ugghhhhhh, I suppose.” Despite his willingness to comply, Douxie made a huge deal of the request, as if it required all the magical strength in the universe to accomplish this small parlor trick. He located the correct spell almost without looking and cast it on their small TV, changing the New Year’s Eve broadcast to a blank white screen. A ball of his blue magic remained in his left hand and he offered it to Zoe. Knowing exactly what to do with it, the girl reached out and held the magic gently with both hands. She treated it like a squirmy hamster, simultaneously afraid to squish it and drop it. Douxie would’ve guided her through the motions, but she’d done this plenty of times before. He knew she could handle it. 

“Alright, you boys ready?” She adjusted herself slightly on the couch as she stared at the blue magic in her hands. “My favorite moment takes us back to the 1930’s. During the middle of ye old Great Depression.” She shifted her gaze up to the screen in front of her just as it shimmered with Douxie’s magic. The plain whiteness changed into a terribly familiar beige. It encompassed the entire screen and Douxie instantly recognized it as one of the awful sand storms they were subjected to while they lived in the plains region. Just watching the sand blowing everywhere made Douxie’s skin feel dry and caked in dirt. He was barely able to make out the deserted imagery on the TV. It was just sand on sand, almost impossible to tell where the ground stopped and the air began. 

“You’re kidding,” he deadpanned, looking up to Zoe. “The _Dust Bowl_?? That’s your favorite memory?” He shifted slightly so his back rested flatly against the bottom of the couch and his front faced the television.

“Hush up, this is a good memory.” Archie snipped quickly, silencing his wizard. Shock spread across Douxie’s features as he glanced at his familiar and then turned back to the screen. 

“See, Archie and I may have kept a tiny, little, baby secret from you, Douxie.” Zoe murmured mischievously as she took greater control of the magic and willed it to project her memories. As soon as she finished speaking, a massive shadow exploded onto the screen. Douxie jumped back from it’s sudden appearance. Whatever the creature was, it sounded furious. Despite having nothing else on screen to use for a size comparison, Douxie could tell the winged creature was gigantic. 

“What in the name of the seven rings is _that_?” More importantly, why did he not have any memory of this happening?

“That, my dear boy, is me.” Archie smirked as he watched the memory focus on the creature. It was a dragon, that much was obvious, but it was a form Douxie had never seen his familiar take. His wings must’ve measured 50 meters across from tip to tip and his length from snout to tail was even greater. Spiney-like spikes lined his back and liquid fire dribbled out his mouth as he searched the sky for something. His glasses had adjusted to the larger size and still sat upon his face, but it was out of place with how vicious the rest of him appeared. 

“When was this???” Douxie’s voice climbed higher out of confusion. Surely, he would have remembered his familiar going full-destructo. He turned to look at his companions for an answer. 

“April 14th, 1935. Sometime in the afternoon, I think you were out looking for work or something.” Zoe began her explanation, focusing intensely on the magic in her hands. “While you were gone during the days, Archie and I got...well, we got bored. We figured there had to have been some way we could stop the constant dust storms.”

Archie continued on for her, cutting Zoe off slightly. “We figured out the storms were partially natural, caused by drought and poor farming. But there was also a mystical element at work.”

“A Seitaad!” Zoe cut Archie off quickly, determined to get to the punch line before he did. 

“A what?” Douxie asked, torn between watching the screen and watching his friends. Luckily, he was watching the screen as another massive figure appeared in the memory. It appeared to be a humanoid form who must’ve been 9 stories tall. They towered over mega-dragon Archie and seemed to be made entirely of sand. The figure moved slowly, throwing their arms forward and forcing a physical wave of dirt at Archie. The dragon couldn’t dodge the attack and he smashed into the ground, causing even more plumes of dust to explode in the air. 

“Oh jeez,” Past-Zoe’s voice rang out in the memory as she ran towards her fallen companion. The sand figure moved again, their body somehow blowing away with the whipping wind yet never running out of sand to make up their body parts. They lifted their arm again, preparing to slam another attack down on Archie who had yet to get up off the ground. 

“Ohhhh here it comes…” the present Zoe gazed expectantly at the screen. The three of them watched as mega-dragon Archie was consumed by a flash of yellow: his tell-tale shapeshifting magic washing over him. In his place stood another figure made entirely of sand. Apparently Archie copied his attacker’s form as a way of fighting fire with fire. Except Archie had huge, sandy wings that extended the length of the dust cloud surrounding them. He flapped them with great effort, but the winds quickly bent to his will rather than his foe’s. 

The Seitaad stumbled backwards, already weakened from the lack of support from the storm. Archie took advantage of their moment of hesitation and tackled the massive sandy form. The two of them crashed to the ground, the Seitaad’s form beginning to crumble underneath the weight. With one fast, stabbing motion, Archie sliced his arm through his enemy like butter, causing the figure to dissolve back into inanimate sand. The remaining wind instantly died with the creature and the storm came to a sudden halt. 

Past Zoe began running again as another flash of yellow overtook Archie’s form. By the time she got to where he was, Archie was back in his normal dragon form, licking his paw and then dragging it over his face to keep the dust from getting in his eyes. “Archie!” Past Zoe called out when she was close to him. “That was aces!” She opened up her arms and Archie jumped into them. 

Douxie heard a faint purring before a clearly-exhausted Archie looked back up to past Zoe. “Aces indeed, my dear. Though I think I’ve drained myself for a few days. At least that should be the last unnatural dust storm we have to live through.”

“You shred it, wheat.” Past-Zoe replied. “You killed that thing like it was nothing. By far the coolest thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching.” Archie smiled up at her and then the tv screen turned back to white. Douxie turned back to look at both of them only to see the duo smiling at him guiltily. 

“First off,” Douxie began, “I agree with obnoxious 1930’s Zoe and her weird slang, that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Secondly, _why_ did you never tell me about that?”

Zoe quickly waved him off. “Because you’re a worry wart. If we had told you we were honing in on a massive creature that buries their victims in sand, you would’ve freaked out and tried to stop us.”

“Or worse, you would’ve tried to _help_ us stop it,” Archie chuckled slightly at his quip, watching gleefully as offense spread across Douxie’s face. 

“Bottom line is we had it handled. You had to focus on getting a job so you could feed, clothe and shelter us whereas Archie and I had some time to kill and impoverished people to protect. It all worked out in the end.” Zoe used her casual voice, brushing off the epic near-death encounter as she handed Douxie back his ball of magic. 

He begrudgingly took it, muttering something about trust under his breath. “If you guys want to see something magnificent, may I remind you of this little debacle of 1986.” He poured his memories into his magic, forcing one in particular to be cast upon their tv screen. It flashed from white to an entirely different scene filled with hundreds upon hundreds of bodies rioting together in some empty city street. Douxie knew it was Arcadia because, well it was _his_ memory. The layout of the town was familiar, but it was a lot different than it looked today. Less buildings, a smaller population and less people to witness the strangeness that happened at night. 

“Aw _hell_ yeah, Douxie. Great choice.” Zoe picked up her flute again and relaxed back into the couch as she watched the screen with anticipation. The memory showed what must’ve been hundreds of goblins, filthy little creatures, all holding makeshift weapons and torches. They screeched unintelligible phrases into the night as they surged forward, attempting to attack anything in their path, including each other. In their wake, they left nothing but destruction. Thankfully, they hadn’t made it to the residential areas yet and still stood on the edge of the business district. By some miracle, they’d gone unnoticed thus far. 

The view projected on the screen was past-Douxie’s perspective as he stood in a nearby alley, holding a walkie-talkie in one hand. “Oh, fuzzbuckets.” His past self muttered before pulling the communication device up to his mouth. “Zo, we’ve got about 10x as many goblins as we expected. Throw the plan out the window, we’re gonna need to improvise, _stat_.” The screen moved down as Douxie glanced at the ground where a cat-Archie grimaced back up at him. Neither of them had planned for this many rogue creatures. 

_‘Roger that, Agent H. Agent Z is taking matters into her own, surprisingly soft hands’_ , came the crackly response over the device.

“No!” Douxie whipped the walkie-talkie back up to his mouth as quickly as possible. “Zoe, do _not_ engage with the goblins when they’re angry. I repeat, _do not enga-_ ”

“Hey everyone!” A familiar voice cut across the area as past-Douxie peeked out from where he was hiding. Zoe was standing on a bench, towering over all the tiny demon-creatures that raged around them. For some unknown reason, she actually managed to capture their attention. An unnerving silence ripped across the crowd as they glared up at the girl. “Uh, so I know you’re all super angry at how you were portrayed in the media recently,” murmurs of agreement drifted through the crowd as they all listened intently for what she had to say next. 

“She’s going to get herself killed! We need to do something!” Past-Douxie whisper-yelled at his familiar.

“Shhhh!” Archie snapped back. “Let her try,”

“Thank you for having faith in me, Archie.” Present-Zoe smiled as she snuggled deeper into the couch. 

“...but when this horrible plan ultimately fails, we’ll need to act quickly, so be prepared.” Past-Archie finished his sentence, causing Present-Zoe to scoff at the tv. 

“And I agree!” Past-Zoe called out to the goblins again, capturing the attention of Past-Douxie. The view shifted again as he peered out from his hiding space and watched her address the goblin masses. “I think you looked like absolute fools on the big screen! The only redeeming qualities of that movie were David Bowie’s tight pants and the way Sarah totally stuck it to the patriarchy.” The gremlins began to protest again as they lost interest in what she was saying. “I’ve been there, though!” She cried out again with gusto. “I’ve been misrepresented and it _sucks_ , you guys. But you don’t see me out here trying to destroy any cities!”

Past-Douxie pulled the walkie-talkie up to his mouth again. “What are you doing??” He uttered through clenched teeth. He watched as Zoe pulled up her own walkie-talkie to reply to him quietly. 

_‘Don’t worry, I’ve got this covered’_. She put the device back in her pocket and continued yelling at the gremlins in front of her. “I mean, come on! Have some respect for yourselves! You complain that you’re portrayed as these foolish, awful, monsters and then what do you do? You run out and act just as chaotically as the goblins in the movie! If you ask me, you’re only going to worsen your reputations by pulling a stunt like this.”

More murmurs flowed through the crowd, but Douxie couldn’t tell if they were supporting her or quietly discussing how to kill her. “My word, is this actually working?” Archie’s voice flooded the screen, but Past-Douxie kept his eyes on the spectacle, shaking his head. 

“I say we forget this whole destroy-the-city thing, head back to our homes in the woods and just appreciate the screen time you _did_ get. ‘Cause let’s be honest, bad publicity is better than no publicity. Can I get an amen?” Zoe chuckled slightly, clearly attempting to keep up her false bravado. The moment she looked closer at her audience, though, her confidence fell apart. The goblins might’ve been smiling, but it wasn’t from affirmation. Their grins were twisted and sadistic: something that spelled trouble for the small girl standing in the middle of them all. 

“Zoe, I’ll cause a distraction. Get out of there now!” Past-Douxie pulled the walkie-talkie from his mouth as he stepped around the corner, trying to do anything he could to help. He barely made it a step though before Archie (now transformed as a dragon) flew up, bit the back of his hoodie, and dragged him back into hiding. “Ah, Arch, why? She needs us!” 

Past-Archie just shook his head slowly. “I can feel something in the air.”

Douxie glared at his familiar. “What?? Archie, this isn’t a Phil Collins song. She’s going to get killed if we don’t help her! I’m going with or without you.” He defiantly turned around again and sprinted out of the alley, determined to be the best distraction he could. As it turns out, there was no need. 

As soon as Past-Zoe was visible on the screen again, the three onlookers from the present cheered loudly. Her body was charged with electric pink magic, like a bomb about to explode. Past-Douxie muttered a half-hearted “oh, fuzzbuckets,” before Zoe released all her pent-up energy. The screen exploded in a burst of pink and then turned to white as Past-Douxie was thrown backwards by the energy surge. The memory ended there. 

“It might’ve been for only a moment, but that is still one of the sickest things I’ve ever seen, Zo. Literally nuclear.” Douxie smiled grandly as he fiddled with the ball of magic in his hand. Zoe and Archie were nodding along with him, huge smiles plastered to both of their faces as well. 

“Why thank you, Agent H. But let me tell you, _Labyrinth_ definitely did more harm than good that decade.” Zoe laughed as she spoke, already moving her champagne to her mouth again. 

“I will cheers to that,” Archie lifted his glass of milk and clinked it against hers before she was able to sip it. Then they drank together. Douxie smiled and joined them. Once he was finished, Archie spoke up again “I suppose it’s my turn then? I just so happen to have the perfect memory in mind. Hand me the magic, Douxie.” 

The wizard did as he was told, tossing the ball of memory-movie-magic to his familiar. Archie caught it with his little paws and the magic automatically shrunk to match his smaller stature. After being bonded with each other for so long, Douxie’s magic was nearly as flawless with Archie as it was with himself. As far as his magic was concerned, the wizard and familiar might as well have been the same person. Archie easily manipulated the magic and the screen blinked to a beautiful, blue sky day with crowds of people running around and screaming. 

“North Carolina, 1977. Remember, we were investigating claims of a devil-like creature terrorizing people.” Archie set the scene perfectly as the memory came into a stronger focus on the screen. 

“ _O_ oooh! Archie, good choice.” Zoe gleefully slapped the cat lightly as she smiled at the screen. Douxie on the other hand grimaced as his past self appeared on the tv. He was decked out in jeans, a tucked in flannel shirt, cowboy boots and a black cowboy hat. “And damn, Douxie. Great style choices.”

Douxie made a disgruntled clicking sound with his tongue. “You know I was trying to blend in.” 

“Shhhhh” Archie yelled at them both, focusing the memory the rest of the way so they could hear what their past selves were saying. 

“You got this, D.” Archie must’ve been on Zoe’s shoulder as he watched her give Douxie thumbs up before she turned and joined the people running away from the fiery figure in the middle of town-square. She only fled a few meters away before ducking behind a car, close enough to help if need be but far enough to survive if something went wrong. “He’s got this...right?” Past-Zoe looked up to Archie on her shoulder. 

“Let’s hope so,” Archie breathed out before turning his attention back to Douxie in the center. 

“Hey!” He yelled out to the figure causing absolute havoc in the town. With one touch, anything would burst into flames and crumble to ash within seconds. They were clearly dealing with a fire demon. Said demon whipped around at the sound of a challenger, smiling cruelly when he saw Douxie. “I heard you liked music?” The boy held up a cheap, broken fiddle and a bow with horribly frayed strings. “How about a battle?”

The demon moved fluidly, like a flame jumping across kindling. His voice was raspy, like magma flowing down a mountain. “Music? Battle? Two things I’d kill over. With whom am I speaking?"

“Uh…” Douxie turned around and briefly glanced at his companions who only shrugged back at him and sent a thumbs-up. He turned back around to the demon and put on a facade, doing his best to match the intensity of the creature in front of him. “My name’s not important. My musical skills, however, _are_. I’ve seen how much you love a good fiddle and I think I could beat you. What do you say?”

The demon stared him down, but it was clear he was going to accept the challenge. “Make it a bet and you’re on. It’ll be more interesting that way.” The demon's eyes suddenly glowed white-hot as if he were about to explode. “I win, I get your soul.” Douxie stumbled backwards half a step, clearly surprised by the sudden intensity. 

“His soul??” Past-Zoe whispered at Archie. “I don’t trust this plan anymore. We need to-”

“Ha! Pathetically low-stakes, but sure. Now, when I win, you go back to wherever you came from and never bother the mortal plane again.” Douxie stuck his hand out with more false bravery than Archie or Zoe had ever seen. The demon smiled and gladly took it. The bet was on. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Past-Archie wiped his face with his paw as he watched the scene unfold before him. “He chooses _now_ to be foolishly courageous?”

“Me first.” The demon snapped his fingers and an orchestra was suddenly at his disposal, surrounding Douxie entirely. The screen looked like it was on fire as they burst into a screeching song. Each strike against the strings sounded like tormented souls in hell shrieking in pain. Archie, Zoe and Douxie all covered their ears as the music flowed into the air, crescendoing to a nearly painful degree. After what seemed like hours, it finally dropped away, taking all the additional members with it. As the last of the sound died out, the screen returned to normal, revealing a single demon staring down Douxie and his broken fiddle. “Try and beat _that_ , kid. And then prepare to have your soul harvested.”

Douxie just smirked at him and pulled his violin to his chin. “Mmmm, I don’t like the sound of that. Thankfully, I won’t have to learn what it feels like.”

“Mordrax’s Miracles, _I_ almost believe him.” Past-Archie murmured as he watched his wizard fake his way to success. 

“With an instrument in that bad of shape? I’d like to see you try.” The demon crossed his arms, looking around at the small group gathered around the town-square, watching whatever duel was taking place.

“Oh, thank you, thank you. I almost forgot.” Douxie relaxed his arms before pulling his gauntlet up to his face. He scrolled through the spells and quickly selected one, wordlessly casting it on his violin and bow. It flashed blue and repaired itself, becoming a perfectly tuned music machine within seconds. The demon clearly wasn’t expecting magic of any sort as his white eyes widened in surprise. Douxie fell back into position, resting his violin up near his shoulder. He smirked one final time at the demon. “Let’s begin, shall we?” And he played. 

Music like Archie and Zoe had never heard before exploded from the instrument. The two hiding behind the car looked at one another in shock. Neither spoke, but both craned their heads towards the sound as they listened, their jaws dropping in sync. Rapid, consecutive sixteenth notes fluttered off the strings as Douxie’s right arm sawed the bow across the strings at a breathtaking rate. Every note he hit was perfectly in tune, flowing off the instrument and washing over the surrounding crowd as they watched in awe. His left fingers flew across the strings, pushing them down with ease. His sound was fluid and unpredictable, as if he’d been practicing this exact melody for the past 800 years. It was over sooner than anyone wanted it to be and the audience found themselves longing for more of his playing. 

Douxie hit the final note and ripped his string away from the violin, as any dramatic fiddler would do. He smirked back up at the demon who stared at him with horror. “H-how is that possible for a human?” The fiery figure asked, already knowing who the winner was. 

Taking advantage of the demon’s shock, Douxie pulled more magic from his bracelet and cast it upon the ground, opening a portal to limbo directly beneath the demon. With a look of bewilderment still smeared across his face, the demon was instantly pulled downwards. He didn’t even make a gasping noise before the portal vanished, leaving the town perfectly demon-free. 

“Because I’m a little less than human.” Douxie sneered again at the ground before turning around to find Archie and Zoe again. He gave them two thumbs-up while grinning like an idiot before the screen turned back to white. 

Zoe shook her head. “You’re such a dork, Doux.”

Douxie shrugged. “That may be true. But I’m a dork who killed a demon with my awesome fiddle skills _and_ inspired one of the best songs of all time.” He made a peace-symbol with his pointer and middle finger, kissed it, and held it up in the air. “Charlie Daniels is a hero amongst men.”

Zoe raised an eyebrow and raised her nearly-empty flute again. “I’ll cheers to that.” The two boys copied her action and they all emptied their glasses, only to have them all refilled seconds later. 

The evening continued like that, the three of them recounting the most epic moments from the past century. Each cheers they shared pushed the trio further from the fear of the looming digital apocalypse. Douxie recalled his magic from the tv at some point, allowing the New Year's Eve broadcast to resume. Together, the three of them laughed as midnight drew closer and closer. 

With one minute of 1999 remaining, Douxie jumped onto the couch between Archie and Zoe. He wrapped his arms around their shoulders and held them tightly as they awaited the arrival of the new year. Somewhere around 40 seconds left, Douxie found himself drunkenly slurring the words to _Auld Lang Syne_. Zoe and Archie joined in with 30 seconds left. They held onto each other tightly, yelling the words louder than the volume of the tv in front of them. 

“Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind!”

20 seconds. 

“Should old acquaintance be forgot for auld lang syne!”

10 seconds. 

There was no threat of a system crash, no fear of the new millennium and no regrets from the past century. 

1 second. 

“Happy New Year!” Douxie shook his friends’ shoulders as he shouted the phrase at the television. “Happy, Happy New Year!! Happy new century! Happy new millennium! Happy new everything!” 

“Haha, _that’s_ the spirit, Douxie!” Zoe beamed at her friend. “Now hold still.” She grabbed his face with both hands and dramatically landed a messy kiss on his lips, pressing as tightly as she could. Although surprised at first, Douxie deepened the kiss once he realized what was happening. The contact didn’t last longer than a few seconds before Zoe pulled away, smiling grandly. 

Douxie just stared at her, gobsmacked before he began laughing like a fool. Zoe quickly joined in with him, both of them collapsing into piles of giggles on the couch. Archie just shook his head and turned his attention back to the tv. The power grid was still perfectly intact. The banks didn’t glitch, the water systems appeared to be fine and the electricity was just as it had been moments ago. 

Well, there seemed to be an oddly re-ignited spark in a tiny apartment in California, but Archie wasn’t counting that.

**Author's Note:**

> This kind of ended up being a concept-dump for me, but I hope you all enjoyed it! I referenced The Labyrinth and Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" for the 80's as well as Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" for the 70's. I did some brief research into the lingo for each decade but I'm (barely) a 90's baby so there's a good chance it sounds ridiculous. 
> 
> Also, the Seitaad is from Native American mythology, though I wasn’t able to find much about the topic. I might get around to doing full stories for some of the memories I mentioned in this one-shot, but we'll see what happens. 
> 
> Regardless, thank you for reading! And a happy, happy new year to all!


End file.
